Different Perspectives
by IcedAjack
Summary: Matt is a normal human when some cats from a Junkyard enter his home for safety. First FF.
1. A New Pet

_Tick. Tock_.

Matthew watched as the second hand crept slowly around the clock. Is the clock broken? Matt watches the clock everyday during math class, but as he watched it move in the 80+ degree weather, it's moving uncharacteristically slow. Maybe the weather affected the movement of the clock. Currently failing math class, Matt knew he should be paying attention to class.

"Now, when the equation is 3x-5x+17, that is known as a polynomial."

How slow can a clock move? Matt felt that he was about to find out. Matt leaned back in his chair and looked around to see if anyone else noticed the clock was broken. A bead of sweat dripped down the side of his face. It was so warm today. Matt could feel himself getting more and more tired. Matt looked back at the clock. 2:05, another half-an-hour? Matt groaned inwardly. He set his chair back on all fours and slumped over his desk. Maybe if he took a short power nap until the last period of school ends. Matt felt himself falling further and further into unconsciousness. Of course, as fate would have it, his phone decided to ring right then. Matt jerked up, and clumsily stopped his phone from ringing. The whole class was staring at him. Matt looked and around uneasily and said,

"Hey."

"So if you complete the square…" His teacher continued.

Matt looked at the clock hopefully. 2:08. Great. Maybe he could try a power nap again. He propped his elbow on his desk and leaned his head on it. Being snapped of his comfortably tired state made it a bit harder for him to get sleepy again. As he started to zone out, his phone rang again. He silenced his phone a bit quicker this time, grumbling and promising himself to throw his phone against a wall later. He looked around the room, and saw that the whole class was looking at him. Again.

"Hey." He said uncomfortably.

"Maybe you should turn your phone off." His teacher said smiling.

"y-Yeah. I was going to do that." He could feel himself getting red.

"Okay. So 36-14 is 22, giving you two answers. x = 22 and x = -12." The teacher looked at the clock. "Today your homework will be 20-53, due tomorrow."

The class groaned and got to work.

"Matthew, can I speak with you real quick?" His teacher asked.

"Sure."

Matt got out of his desk and walked over to his teacher. With a quick look at the clock, he saw that it was 2:15. That's it? Matt groaned.

"You do know that you're failing this class, right?" His teacher started to say.

"I am? I had no idea." Matt's voice had a sharp edge to it.

"Well, yes. I don't believe that it's much of a surprise to you, considering how you have yet to turn in a single assignment."

Of course teachers have to be polite. He had hoped that one of the cooler teachers in the school would actually teach math in a way where he would like the subject.

"Bête, I'm only telling you because I know you wouldn't want to go to summer school.

Trust me." His teacher told him.

"What is bête anyway?" Matt asked.

"Don't change the subject. How about this; you turn in the rest of the assignments of the school year. Don't give that look, it's only 3 weeks. Get a B or better on the Final, and get a C or better on an additional accumulative test. I'll pass you. I'll average the score you get on the homework, test, and Final and that will be you're final grade." He paused as the bell rang. "I'm not forcing you to do this. You have a choice. I just hope you'll make the right one."

Matt made a face as he walked out of the classroom. Matt checked his phone that gave him so much trouble today. He had received two text messages.

_Matt! You'll never believe what I did today!_ It was his mother. She finally figured out how to text with her phone.

The second one was from his sister. _Matt! You'll never guess what mom did today!_ Wow.

He replied with an _I don't care!_ to both. As usual, his sister replied almost immediately.

_No need to be such a dick about it. You should really hurry home. It's so awesome!_ She peaked his curiosity. _What is it?_ He sent back to her. _I'm not going to tell you. _ He received.

_Ok._

As Matt got outside, he was ambushed by his girlfriend.

"Dara told me what happened in class today. In Math?" She paused, when he didn't start talking, she continued. "With the phone, from what she said, you were really embarrassed!"

"Yeah, it was embarrassing." Matt grimaced.

"Anyway, what did Mr. Bruler say?" Alexandra asked.

"He told me I was failing, and I have to do work, and tests and stuff to pass." Matt told her.

She paused. "You ARE going to do it all, right?"

"I don't know. What, with football coming up, I'm not sure I want to. I guess I'll just go to summer school." Matt said.

"You don't want to do work so much that you would go to summer school and not hang out with me?" Alexandra put on her best sad puppy face.

"I just think I'll be preoccupied with football. Tryouts do start tomorrow." Matt stated.

"Then you have no excuse for tonight. You better do you're homework tonight. Or else."

Alexandra made a threatening gesture which made Matt laugh.

It was too hot to walk home. Well, almost. Matt walked by the neighborhood junkyard, which was the favorite haunt of the neighborhood stray cats. He picked up a small rock and waited for a cat to show. He was about to leave when he saw an extremely fat cat stroll into plain site and rest on the abandoned tuck. Matt looked at the cat in disgust. Cats were probably the worst animal on the face of the planet. He aimed, and threw the rock at it. The cat saw the rock and tried got out of the way in time. The rock hit the cat, making the cat fly backwards.

"I am so trying out for quarterback tomorrow." He said to himself.

He stuck his hands in his pockets and continued walking. About half way between his house and the junkyard he was jumped on by a dog.

"Hey boy!" Matt said as his face got wet via dog tongue. "Do you want something to eat? You hungry boy?"

Matt got up and walked over to a hot dog stand. There was a short line.

"That will be 2 dollars ma'am." The lady who ordered the hot dog walked away.

The owner of the stand looked at him with a quick glance, "What do you want, boy?"

"I come to a hot dog stand. What do you think I want? A foot long sub?" Matt said, glaring at the man.

"Fine. 8 dollars boy." The owner said.

"What? You charged the lady 2 dollars, and you think I'll pay 8?" Matt thundered.

"The lady didn't piss me off. You did. 8 dollars." The owner spat.

"You can't charge a man because you have a grudge on him." Matt said.

The owner slapped a sticky note onto the menu. It had a lazy sentence scrawled on it: The owner has the right to charge whatever he wishes.

"Oh. Smart. Yeah, I can tell that's been there the whole time!" Matt stalked away from the stand.

"You are a worthless, inconsiderate, miserable young man! With no future!" the owner yelled after him.

"Said the owner of a hot dog stand." Matt shot.

"Said the owner of a _very_ successful hot dog stand." The owner said, defensively.

"Whatever." Matt grumbled.

The dog followed him, wagging his tail until Matt hit his street.

"Ok boy. I have to go now. I'll see you tomorrow!"

The dog barked happily, turned around, and walked away. As he reached the driveway, his phone rang again. When he checked it, he had another text message.

_That was RUDE._ His mom replied a whole 15 minutes later. When he walked inside his house, he saw his mom and sister gathered around the kitchen table.

His sister turned around, saw that he was home and said "We adopted him! Well, actually Mom went out and got him, but I help her decide to pick a cat for a pet! Isn't he cute?"

As Matt got closer he saw it was a cat. The cat was sitting at the table studying his new family. Matt got even closer to study it.

It was a silver tabby.


	2. The Jellicle Predicament

Jemima was lying about on the floor of her den; waiting for her dad to come back. She could feel Demeter's eyes on her, as usual. Ever since…

"That devil!" Jemima heard Bustopher Jones yell.

Bustopher Jones must have been the human's target today. How she hated that human. The only human to ever pay attention to the Jellicles in the junkyard has been the biggest pain in the rear until Macavity came back after being defeated from the Jellicle Ball. She put her paws on her head, as that thought brought back memories that she had suppressed.

~ * ~

Two Weeks Ago

~ * ~

"Munkustrap! Come here! Quickly!" Alonzo zoomed by various dens until he reached the sleeping Jellicle protector's den. "A dead cat was planted at the entrance of the Junkyard. I think it was Macavity!"

"He has returned?" Munkustrap perked up after hearing the sound of his brother's name.

"Come with me. I'll take you to it."

Munkustrap followed Alonzo to the entrance of the Junkyard. Sure enough, there was a large cat lying there, obviously dead. The only tarnish on the cat's otherwise perfect fur was a long scratch going from the tip of the cat's nose to the tip of the cat's tail.

"We… Need… Old Deuteronomy." Munkustrap whispered.

Some of the cats had trickled out, awoken by Alonzo's yelling. As Munkustrap examined the cat, a young queen was perched precariously at a high vantage point. Looking at the moon sometimes as advantages, she thought as she probably had one of the best seats in the house. Or Junkyard.

"Get the queens and the kittens back to their dens," Munkustrap ordered. "Pouncival, and Tumblebrutus, go get Old Deuteronomy."

The said cats raced off to find the Jellicle leader. The young Calico backed up out of site, not wanting to be seen. The queens backed up, but not going back to their dens as the protector had ordered. As Munkustrap turned around, he was met by a small tuxedo cat. Who had an extreme look of sorrow on his face.

"Who?" Quaxo managed to ask.

"I don't know. Not a Jellicle." Munkustrap told him.

Quaxo showed a look of relief for a moment, but then changed back to a frown.

"Is this a sign of…." Quaxo trailed off.

"We should wait until Old Deuteronomy shows up." Munkustrap told him.

Quaxo nodded and headed back towards where the other Jellicles were waiting. Munkustrap followed Quaxo and found Demeter, who had tears flowing freely down her face. Munkustrap could see a question bubbling at her lips, and he silenced it with a paw.

"Wait for Old Deuteronomy." He whispered.

Demeter nodded and went off to find Jemima. Munkustrap looked up when he heard whispers from the other cats, signaling Old Deuteronomy's arrival.

Old Deuteronomy's face showed concern as he said "Show me."

At the arrival of the legendary Jellicle leader, Jemima was certain no cat would be looking so high up. Munkustrap walked over to where the nameless cat was lying and sat off to the side as Old Deuteronomy studied the cat.

"Uhri." He whispered.

Old Deuteronomy looked visibly aged as he stood up to address the cats. Just about the whole tribe of Jellicles stood in front of Old Deuteronomy.

"I need to speak with the toms. Queens, back to your dens, please." Old Deuteronomy said sadly.

The queens of the Jellicles dispersed as the toms walked forward to hear what Old Deuteronomy had to say. Jemima's eyes quickly scanned for her mother, hoping that she wasn't looking for her. Demeter was being comforted by Bombalurina, so she wouldn't be after Jemima anytime soon. Hopefully. Jemima got closer to hear what the Jellicle leader had to say.

"This cat is not a Jellicle," He paused as some toms let out sighs of relief. "But of the Johtaja tribe. As many of you know, the Johtaja have been long allies of the Jellicles. It seems as if this mysterious enemy has decided to wipe out the Johtaja in an attempt to get us alone. Who did this, I cannot sa…" Old Deuteronomy was interrupted by Coricopat falling to the ground clutching his head in pain.

Many of the toms gathered around Coricopat, trying to see what is happening. Jemima gasped, straining forward to see what was happening, but she couldn't as the toms were forming a tight circle around Coricopat.

"Let him some air, Jellicles. Psychic attacks are never easy to defend. Unfortunately there is nothing we can do right now." Old Deuteronomy said.

The toms now backed up, as Coricopat was getting to his feet. Jemima leaned back, hoping that everything was fine. His eyes had changed from a soothing brown to a fiery red. Munkustrap tried to touch Coricopat, but Coricopat took a swipe at him. Munkustrap jumped back and looked at Coricopat with concern. Coricopat was now busy swiping at other toms trying to help him. Jemima watched in horror. What could've made Coricopat act this way?

"Leave him alone, for this isn't Coricopat right now. His psychic adversary seems to have won, for now." Old Deuteronomy said.

The toms made a circle around Coricopat, ready to fight, should he attack. Coricopat now laughed, his voice changed into something that sounded like,

"Macavity!" Munkustrap whispered.

"Macavity…" Old Deuteronomy started.

"Macavity." Jemima whispered.

"Silence! You will not talk to me, old man," You could see Macavity's hatred in

Coricopat's eyes. "How have I waited for a moment like this. Now with your "protector tribe, I'll finally have my revenge on the Jellicles."

"How, Macavity? We are not even close to being alone." Old Deuteronomy said.

"Yes… I know about all of them… I'll deal with them soon enou…" Macavity's voice trailed off as Coricopat won dominance over him.

Coricopat slumped to the ground exhausted over his battle with Macavity.

"Alonzo, and Plato, please take him to Jennyanydots. Pouncival, can you tell Tantomile about her brother's battle? Maybe she can help him recover," Old Deuteronomy said, as the three cats left, with Coricopat in tow. "It appears as if we found our enemy."

"Macavity? I thought he was defeated at the Jellicle Ball?" Quaxo said.

"We all knew that was just temporary." Munkustrap said.

"This has been a trying night. It is time you got back to your dens. There will be a meeting tomorrow morning." Old Deuteronomy said.

The toms rushed off to find their mates and kittens. Old Deuteronomy looked up to where the hidden eavesdropper was listening. He hoped she would make it.

Jemima saw everything. Jemima was still staring down in horror. She quickly realized things would go badly for her if her father was to go back to the den, and Jemima not being there. Jemima took off across the roofs of the dens. Macavity's name pounded in her brain. A million questions raced through her mind. An upside to being small is being fast, she thought as she jumped into her den. She had enough time to convince herself that what she heard wasn't true. That it was just bad adolescent hearing when Demeter and Munkustrap came into the den.

"He's back?" Demeter looked as if she was about to faint.

Demeter looked surprised to see Jemima lying right in front of her.

"Who's back?" Jemima asked innocently.

"n-Nothing, dear." Demeter whispered.

Jemima padded over to her mother, "I can tell when something's wrong, mom. I'm like Coricopat and Tantomile."

Jemima smiled at her little joke.

"Coricopat…" Her mother said.

Jemima's smile faded. "Seriously now, what's wrong?"

Jemima felt bad for forcing her mother to tell her this kind of news, but she couldn't let even a tiny hint slide that she knew what was going on. Demeter looked at Munkustrap, begging for him to intercede.

"Macavity." He said.

"Oh…" Jemima said as her stomach dropped.

Demeter turned her back on them, her shoulders shaking. Jemima went over to Demeter, hoping to comfort her. Her father also came over to Demeter. Demeter fell into Munkustrap's arms, crying into his chest. Munkustrap held her, saying soothing words.

Demter looked up at him, a solitary tear running down her cheek, and said, "Don't ever leave."

"Of course not." Munkustrap said.

"No. I want you to promise. Never. Ever. Leave. Us." Said her mother, needing a binding contract.

Jemima looked at her father, knowing that her father never breaks a promise. Munkustrap smiled, and put his paw on Jemima's head.

"I promise." Said Munkustrap, still looking at Jemima.

~ * ~

Jemima shook her head, trying to clear the unpleasant thoughts from her mind. Two weeks of no activity from Macavity had most of the Jellicles thinking that it was just an empty threat. Just some random cat with no future. Within a week, the allies of the Jellicles had been warned, but weeks later, even the Jellicle allies no longer respected Macavity's warnings. Everyone, except her family. Most of the tribe now thinks that Jemima's family is a bit weird for still believing Macavity. The subject of Macavity has been like taboo for a while.

"Jemima, dear, why don't you go outside?" she heard her mother ask.

"Don't want to." Jemima said.

"I just wish... You haven't been outside since..." Demeter trailed off.

"How about this, If my friends ask for me, I'll go outside." She said, trying to pacify her mother. She didn't like where this conversation was headed.

"Ok." her mother said.

"Jemima!" she heard Victoria calling for her.

Jemima rolled over, ignoring Victoria.

"Jemima..." Her mother said.

"That was only one." Jemima said quickly.

"Jemima!" Electra's voice was added to Victoria's.

"Jemima..." Her mother said.

"That was only two.

Demeter looked amused, "Oh, stop that. That's enough. Go outside."

Jemima sighed and went out to pacify her friends.

Victoria smiled when she saw Jemima, "You have to help us!" she said, grabbing Jemima's paw.

"What happened?" Jemima asked.

"Tugger and Bombalurina mated. Etcetera is pretty broken up about it." Electra supplied.

"How does she know that it's for real? I mean, this isn't exactly the first time they've gotten together and broken up." Asked Jemima.

"That's the thing. Bombalurina is pregnant." Victoria said.

"To the Everlasting Cat! When did she find out?" Jemima asked.

"Yesterday. Bombalurina got sick and she went to see Jennyanydots," Electra said, with an amused look on her face. "I can imagine the look on her face when she found out she was expecting kittens. So Tugger is going to stick with Bombalurina and help raise her kittens."

"I thought Etcetera stopped fawning all over Tugger a while ago." Jemima wondered aloud.

"She did, but I think she thought that Tugger was waiting for her, since he's gone so long without a serious relationship. Every so often her hope would increase. So now that they are together, her hope is gone, and her heart, shattered." Victoria said.

"OK." Jemima sighed.

"Something wrong?" Victoria asked.

Another sigh, "No, just thinking about stuff." Jemima said.

"It's about him, isn't it?" Victoria said, knowing that Jemima would understand what she meant by him.

"No. Let's go see Etcetera." Jemima said icily.

Victoria and Electra led Jemima over to Jellylorum's den. Jellylorum met Victoria and Jemima outside of her den.

"Hey mom." Electra said as they walked into the den.

"I sure hope you can do something about her." Jellylorum said.

"We'll try. I promise." Jemima said.

Jellylorum nodded and smiled, "If you need anything, just ask."

"Ok mom." Electra said, pushing past her mother.

Electra led Victoria and Jemima to Etcetera's room. As they were nearing it, they could hear the quiet sniffling coming out of her room. Etcetera was facing the wall, scratching a "lost" poster with Tugger's name on it. Every so often, Tugger would just not go to his "home", electing to stay at the Junkyard.

"Etcetera?" Electra said tentatively.

"Go away." Etcetera said, with her back to them.

"We just want to talk to you." Victoria said, slowly.

"I don't need pity." Etcetera snapped.

"Please, Etcetera, just listen to what we have to say." Jemima pleaded.

Etcetera gave a big sigh, "Fine." Etcetera said angrily.

She turned around, and her eyes extremely blood shot. Her fur was extremely messy, due to the lack of care.

"Well, we…" Jemima started. She looked at Victoria meaningfully.

"We want you to come back." Victoria said.

"No." Etcetera said.

"There are other fish in the sea." Jemima said.

"Any like Tugger?" Etcetera asked.

"Well, no. But Tugger's one of a kind. You can't count on those kinds of fish at all." Electra said.

"Yes. Tugger's one of a kind. No one is going to replace him." Etcetera said quickly.

"Not everyone can have him." Jemima said.

"So why does Bombalurina have him? Is she more comely than me?" Etcetera asked.

"Of course not! You're the most beautiful of cats! I just think it's that they are just closer in age. That's all." Victoria said.

"Do you expect me to believe that?, you are the most beautiful." Etcetera put her face in her paws as Victoria shined over the compliment Etcetera gave her. "Why did Tugger wait so long? It could've been much sooner. It would've spared me the heartache." Etcetera went back to scratching the piece of paper.

"Tugger is a big phony, Etcetera." Jemima said.

Etcetera hissed, "He's the best tom in the tribe."

"For you, maybe." Jemima said, thinking of Pouncival.

"For me? For Bombalurina! For everyone! It wasn't that long ago when all of you were pretty enraptured by Tugger." Etcetera said, glaring at Jemima. "I just can't think of a reason why they would mate so suddenly." Etcetera turned her back to them again.

Jemima gave a look to Electra and Victoria. She didn't know about Bombalurina's condition.

"Well… Etcetera… I know the reason why they mated so suddenly." Victoria began slowly.

"You do?" Etcetera turned around. "What is it?"

"Its... well..." Jemima couldn't bring herself to say it. Not while Etcetera had an anticipating look on her face.

"Well, Bombalurina… you see...she's… pregnant." Electra said.

Etcetera's anticipating face turned to pure rage. She gave a loud, frustrated scream.

"Why? How can she! That! That! That…" She collapsed, sobbing.

Jemima waited. This was big news. You can't rush these things.

Soon enough, Etcetera looked up. "When?" she asked, her voice breaking.

"Bombalurina found out yesterday." Victoria said solemnly.

Etcetera's expression turned icy, as she turned and face the wall again.

"We miss you. You can't just stay in your den forever." Jemima said.

"Yeah, comes a lot from you, you haven't come out of your den since Macavity's lie." Etcetera snapped, in a voice that questioned Jemima's sanity.

Jemima's face turned cold, she turned around and walked out of Jellylorum's den.

"Fine. Just stay here and rot... you..." She couldn't finish.

"Jemima?" Etcetera called after her, her voice worried.

Jemima ignored her and kept on walking. She felt Jellylorum give her a look of worry. She ignored her also. She turned around when she felt Etcetera's paw on her shoulder.

"Jemima…" Etcetera whispered. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to say that."

"You think I'm just going to forgive you if you just say I didn't mean that?" Jemima said.

"I'm extremely sorry. I was extremely sad and touchy and you just came in there and chatted me up. Then you just gave me that kind of news! How was I supposed to take it? I was mad, and I wasn't thinking." Etcetera rattled out at light speed.

"I'm still mad at you…" Jemima pouted.

"How about this; You forgive me, and I'll get over Tugger." Proposed Etcetera.

Jemima thought for a moment.

"umm... fine." She said, as Etcetera and Jemima went off to find Victoria and Electra.

When the two cats found Electra and Victoria on the TSE1, Victoria gave Jemima and Etcetera a look.

"Made up, did we?" Victoria asked.

"Yup!" Etcetera said.

"OK, now what should we do?" Electra said.

"I think w…" Jemima started.

"No offense, but I think one of us elder queens should decide." Victoria said, with a feigned air of superiority.

"By a couple weeks!" accused Jemima.

"Trust me. The couple of weeks gives us," Victoria indicated to Electra, Etcetera, and herself, "adulthood, and it gives everyone else the impression that you are the sweet, innocent kitten that you are."

"Fine. But when you miss out on the most awesome idea I had, you'll be sorry." Jemima said.

"Why don't we go out of the Junkyard and hang with the humans?" Etcetera offered, she looked surprised when Jemima hissed.

"Oh yeah, I forgot. Jemima totally loves humans." Victoria said, with major sarcasm on 'loves'.

"What is it about humans that makes you hate them so much?" Etcetera said.

"Not all humans. Just the ones I know." Jemima said, thinking of the only one she knows.

"You can't base all of your judgments on the actions of that one filthy human." Electra said.

"Besides, you don't even really know him." Added Etcetera

"I do, and I can." Jemima insisted.

"I think we should do some of that old fashioned submersion therapy." Victoria said.

"What?" Etcetera said, with a confused look on her face.

"Submerge her in humans." Victoria explained.

"Ok, now that doesn't make any sense." Said Electra.

"How many humans are here?" Victoria asked.

"Is that a trick question?" Electra asked.

Victoria just rolled her eyes and looked at her.

"ummm… None?" Etcetera guessed.

"Exactly! We need to fix that." Victoria said.

"Wait… You want to bring humans here?" Electra asked.

"No. We need to go out there." Victoria said.

"Why?" Etcetera said, with a confused look again.

"For Jemima." Victoria said.

"But… She hates humans." Electra said.

"Exactly!" Victoria said triumphantly.

"Huh?" Etcetera and Electra said at the same time. The looked at each other, then burst out laughing. Victoria rolled her eyes, and tried to snap the giggling felines out of it.

"Stop that! Ok, if we surround Jemima with humans, she'll end up seeing that humans aren't all that bad!"

"That might work." Etcetera had that 'Doh!' face applied to her own.

"Yeah!" Electra agreed, with the same look on her face.

"No."

Victoria turned to Jemima and said, "What?"

"I'm not going." Jemima stated flatly.

"Why not?" Victoria asked.

"Because they're disgusting humans." Jemima said, as if that was enough of an answer.

"I would accept that, if that was a decent answer, but it's not!" Victoria said, like a game show host.

"What's the real reason, Jemima?" Electra asked.

"Nothing…" Jemima said, as she was plunged face first into the pool of unwanted memories.

~ * ~

Two Weeks Ago.

~ * ~

The troubling night passed like a retarded slug that couldn't move on worth its life, and that also brought nightmares of Macavity. If it had been any normal night, Jemima might not have felt the light tap on her shoulder waking her up.

"It's time." Demeter said softly.

The fog on the ground was thick. Jemima had to cling to her father so she wouldn't get separated from them. There were two figures cloaked in a mysterious suit of black. Jemima had to strain to even barely make out the basic figures of them. As they neared the two figures, Jemima found out that it was Etcetera and Electra.

"Hey Jemima! Let's go find Victoria!" Etcetera bubbled.

Jemima nodded and smiled sadly, Jellylorum must've not told her. They found Victoria. With Quaxo. Kissing.

"Victoria!" squealed Etcetera, lacking tact.

Victoria turned around, breathless.

"What?" Victoria demanded.

"Come with us!" Etcetera said.

"Are you dumber than a pollicle? We'll catch you later Victoria." Said Jemima with a wink.

"I have to go anyway." Quaxo said quickly, ignoring the look from Victoria and slightly blushing, "I'll catch you later Victoria."

"Etcetera! You're such a dolt." Victoria said.

"Not my fault! Why did our parents wake us up so early? I mean, I'm sleeping having a nice dream with Tugger, then my mom wakes me up with a look of sorrow on her face, telling me to get up. I would usually still be sleeping." Etcetera said.

"I don't know. I get the feeling we'll find out though." Victoria said.

The four cats went off to find the rest of the Jellicles. They found them huddled around the abandoned TSE1. Whispered conversations were happening all around them. All of a sudden whispered praises of Old Deuteronomy filled the air. Out of the corner of her eye, Jemima saw Etcetera and Electra exchange glances. Old Deuteronomy looked like he didn't sleep a wink throughout the night. Through the stony silence of the morning, Old Deuteronomy spoke sadly.

"Fellow Jellicle cats. As the Jellicle Leader, I must assume the role of the bearer of sad news. Listen to me well, for I wish not to speak these next words again; Macavity is on the attack." Old Deuteronomy stopped when he heard the gasps and terrified squeals from the queens.

"We all knew that Macavity was not defeated permanently that night during the Jellicle Ball. It appears he has decided to attack now. He appears to be stronger than ever. He has decided to attempt to get the Jellicles alone. He has attacked the Johtaja tribe and murdered their leader."

"w…What happened to the rest of the tribe?" Jellylorum asked.

"I do not know. They could've been killed, they could've been captured. We will have to warn our allies about Macavity's deed. They will need to be on guard. I must ask of the toms do this particular task. One more thing I will have to ask of one of the toms. I hate do say this, but we will need the humans help. One of us will have to go out into the human world and find a suitable human home to hold the Jellicles. We will need more protection that only a human home can provide." Old Deuteronomy watched sadly as the toms argued with their mates on whether they should go.

Right then, the four cats left each other to find their respective families. Jemima had just barely glimpsed her father when he said, "I'll do it."

Old Deuteronomy looked surprised, "Are you sure? I would hate to say this to you, but you might not come back. I know of your daughter's upcoming birthday. Her first, if I may say so boldly."

Munkustrap looked at his mate's tear streaked face. Demeter was slowly shaking her head. "This is more important." He half-whispered.

He slowly walked towards Old Deuteronomy. Jemima burst through the crowds, saying, "Don't leave."

Tears were flowing freely down her face.

"I must. Jemima. I must." Her father said sadly.

"Remember your promise! What about your promise?" Jemima was begging.

"I'll be back. Tomorrow morning. I'll be right beside you when you wake up." Munkustrap said.

"Do you promise?" Jemima asked, knowing that it would be a lie.

Munkustrap closed his eyes and said "Yes."

He looked up and faced the rest of the Jellicles. "We will have a human home within the week!" he said sadly.

Jemima knew it was a lie, "Please... don't... Stay for me..." She pleaded.

"Jemima, baby, I am the Jellicle protector. I have to do this." Munkustrap said.

"Dad..."

"Jemima. That's enough. I would expect more from you." Munkustrap said harshly.

Jemima turned around and left the meeting. She couldn't face Demeter, who was crying. When Jemima got home, she flopped on her bed. Jemima refrained from crying. She had to stay strong. If not for herself, at least for her mother. She had given her father a choice. Stay with Jemima, or go out to the humans. He had broke a promise. He had chosen the humans over her.


	3. Chapter 3

Matt groaned loudly.

"What is it?" his sister asked.

"A cat? What would make you want to adopt a cat?" Matt asked.

"It was past time that we got a pet. Stacy and I decided on a cat." His mom said.

"Why did I have no say in it?" Matt felt his anger rising.

"We all know you ain't got the heart to love an animal. You would be against any animal that we got." His sister said.

"Ain't isn't a word sweetie." Matt's mother corrected his sister.

"That's not true, I would have like to have a dog!" Matt said.

The cat hissed, and looked at Matt.

"Stop that! It's not like you could actually understand that!" Matt said.

His sister mumbled something and turned back to the cat.

"What we need to do is name the cat now." His mother said.

The cat started mewing at Matt's sister.

"Munkustrat," Matt's sister said, still looking at the cat. "No, we should name it Munkustrap."

"What on earth? No, sweetie. Munkustrap is no name for a cat," His mother said. "Since Matt didn't get a say in getting a cat, I think he should name him."

"Umm… How about Andrew?" Matt said.

"Andrew?" His mother asked.

"Yes. Well, I'm going upstairs to do some homework." Matt said.

He could feel three pairs of eyes on him as he walked to his room. He heard his mother whisper to his sister, "Homework? I didn't know he knew what that was."

Matt woke up to the sight of Andrew sitting on Matt's chest, staring at him.

"Get.. off me!" Matt said as he pushed Andrew off of his chest.

Andrew nimbly landed on the floor, hissed at him, and stalked out of Matt's room.

"Why couldn't you have been a dog?" Matt wondered as he got ready for school.

School was uneventful, besides the fact that football tryouts were today. Mr. Bruler looked extremely surprised when Matt handed in his three paged math assignments. Mr. Bruler quickly looked through it and nodded in satisfaction.

"Good job, bête." He said.

"Will you please tell what that means?" Matt asked.

"Not yet." Mr. Bruler said, smiling.

Matt did his best to pay attention to what Mr. Bruler was teaching, but football was too much on his mind.

"Today, football tryouts are today. Students wishing to try out must go to the field house before 3:00 to receive gear." The announcements went off right before the bell rang.

Matt gathered his school books and left for the field house. As he got near the field house he found about 30 boys waiting outside of the two garage doors. He quickly scanned the waiting boys for any of his friends. He wasn't all that hopeful; of course he wasn't known for having a lot of friends. To his surprise, he found Alex leaning against the brick walls of the field house. Reading a book. Matt wasn't able to picture Alex in full football pads. After all, Alex was like 100 something pounds. The football gear probably weighed more than him.

Matt went over to Alex and leaned on the wall right next to him, and said, "Hey."

"Hey Matt." Alex looked up from the book.

"What position are you trying out for?" Matt asked.

"umm… Probably running back. I'm fast, as you know." Alex boasted.

"At reading. That's probably it though." Matt said.

Before Alex could respond, one of the two white garage doors was opened by a coach.

The boys gathered around the opening, eager for tryouts to start. The lone coach walked out into the throng of hopefuls. He showed a quick look of surprise while he quickly took a count of how many boys where there.

"I don't know why we have so many hopefuls this year, but I hope you boys know what you are getting into." He looked at the boys seriously, "This year will be the worst year of your life. Every day, when you come home from practice, you will be in pain. You won't want to go to practice the next day. You will. Football isn't for people who are being forced to play. If you are, I suggest you leave now."

3 boys left, looking pleased that they didn't have to try to make the football team.

"Football is extremely rewarding; It will be tough to master. It will require determination. If you want to do it right, it will require all of your spare time. If you're heart is not 100% into it, you will not last. I'm coach Douleur, by the way. Don't forget it. You will get into a line in alphabetical order by your last name. If I call your name, and someone else is in the front of the line; you, and that person will be sent home. Aarons will be the first person in the line. Start the line behind him. You will have 5 minutes."

With that being said, Coach Douleur walked back into the field house. Matt blinked during the moment of silence as the boys tried to take in what Coach Douleur said. Then there was a mad scramble with boys getting into line.

"What's your last name?" was pretty much the only spoken words flying around. Matt considered himself lucky as he was situated right before Alex.

"What do you think of Coach Douleur?" Alex said.

"I don't know." Matt gave a standard response.

"He won't be an easy coach. That's for sure." Alex commented.

"Obviously, if you couldn't tell from that '_I will make your life suck!' _speech." Matt said.

"Yeah that's true. Do you think that anyone will mess up their names and get kicked off?" Alex asked.

"Dude, I hope so. I might need some entertainment." Matt sighed.

"Aarons!" Coach Douleur started his roll call.

The gear handout went without too much trouble until:

"Darby!"

The person in the front of the line gave a visible flinch. All conversations stopped, and many pairs of eyes were focused on the trembling boy in the front of the line.

"I get the feeling that you aren't Darby. What's your name?" Coach Douleur spat.

"D-Dawson." The boy stammered.

"Well Dawson, thanks for trying out. Please leave. Darby! Get up here!" Coach Douleur yelled as Dawson walked away.

"Yes coach." Darby looked ashamed; for he obviously knew what was coming.

"Do I even have to say it?" Coach Douleur asked.

"No coach." Darby turned around and walked back to the school.

Matt was a little disappointed; he was expecting a little more of a show that that.

The rest of the boys got their gear, suited up, and was on the field about 30 minutes before practice ended. Once Coach Douleur had saw that everyone was outside he jogged onto the field to give the boys a talk.

"Ok. You have your gear. There will be a 1 week tryout period. I will expect you to be on this field at 3 exactly, fully ready to go. If I come out and you aren't there, you are cut. If, for some reason you are slacking in anything, you are cut. I will accept no excuses. If, for some reason you make it through this week without being cut, you are part of this football team. I will tell you the rules more rules of the team then. I want you to run one mile in full pads, and then you are free to leave." Coach Douleur walked over to the bleachers to watch.

Slowly, the boys started to run around the track, which circled the field.

Around 6:30, Matt stumbled through the front door and fell onto the couch. He immediately jumped up when he heard a hissing right next to him. A black and white tuxedo cat was sitting on the couch. Matt made a swipe at it, but the cat nimbly jumped out of the way. Matt was pretty sure it was his eyes playing tricks on him, but he thought he saw some flashes of light around the cats paws.

"Mom! What's this cat doing here?" Matt yelled at his mother.

"Andrew brought some friends over today. Isn't that nice? He makes friends fast." His mother said from the kitchen.

"There's more?" Matt asked.

"Only one more that you haven't seen." His mother told him.

"Great. So we have a cat for one day and he's already bringing oversized rats in here? I can't believe this. They better not get inside my room." Matt grumbled.

"Ok. I'll be sure to tell them. Get out of that food!" His mother said as a maine coon jumped into what she was making.

"umm. I'll skip dinner," Matt said. "Stupid rats."

"Well, I think it's cute." Stacy said, petting Andrew.

"You thought that bald dog was cute." Matt told her.

"It was cute!" Stacy said defensively.

"It was foaming at the mouth."

Stacy stuck her tongue at him.

"Didn't mom ever tell you that's not polite? Anyway, make sure that none of those things get in my room." Matt said, heading towards the stairs.

"I won't… Or maybe I will, and then I'll be even." Stacy said.

"Even? What did I do?" Matt asked.

"Everything." Stacy said ominously.

"Whatever." Matt went to his room.

Matt closed the door to his room and lay on his bed.


	4. Catching Up

Jemima came to. She didn't open her eyes, not yet at least. She was content just laying down and listening to the bustling cat. She listened a bit harder, and she could hear the shallow breathing of 3 young cats waiting around her. She really didn't have to think very hard to guess who they were.

"Are you sure she's gonna be okay?" Etcetera asked slowly.

"Etcetera, dear. I know you're worried, but you have to stop asking me that every 10 seconds." Jennyanydots told her.

"I'm sorry; I just don't know what happened to her. I mean, one moment she was all fine, and we were taking her to see…" Etcetera stopped talking as Victoria put her paw over her mouth.

"um…. No where." Victoria covered for Etcetera.

"I have to go." Electra said, and as she neared the door, she turned around, "Tell me if she wakes up."

"I can understand that you're hesitant; telling an old cat like me your daily shenanigans, but any information I can glean about what happened the Jemima, the surer I can be that she'll make a swift recovery." Jennyanydots told Victoria.

"Well, you know that Jemima doesn't like humans, right?" Victoria started.

"With good reason, those disgusting creatures." Jennyanydots said, with hatred.

"Yeah… That's Jemima's stance on them as well. I… We just don't understand why." Victoria said.

"Have you seen that one human that comes here? The only human that knows we exist constantly tries to hurt us." Jennyanydots said.

"Yeah, Jemima used that excuse as well. I mean, you can't judge all of the humans on just one human's actions. What if humans judged us based off of the actions of Macavity?" Victoria questioned.

"It's a good thing that will never happen, considering humans are ignorant of everything besides themselves. If Macavity was to turn into some giant evil cat thing, I doubt humans would care, as long as it wasn't bothering them. Well, actually they would, since they kill anything they don't know. You know, for "science"." Jennyanydots replied.

"I just refuse to believe that humans are just that bad." Victoria insisted.

Jennyanydots let loose a tired sigh, "I guess it's good that you cats are the future of this tribe. Most of the older cats hold a grudge against humans to this day. As much as it disgusts me, we will have to work with humans if we ever truly want to be safe. That's why Old Deuteronomy is such a great leader. He doesn't think the way us older cats do. He doesn't let what happened affect what's happening. Anyway, why were you talking about humans with Jemima?"

"Well, we needed something to do, we wanted to help Jemima with her super duper human hatred." Etcetera supplied.

"Hatred doesn't work in her. It doesn't fit her character. It just seemed wrong to have her hate something with such intensity. So we decided to try to introduce her to some nice humans. Not that we know any, of course. But I figured if we look around for a tiny while, there will be some that we can find. I hoped that she wouldn't hate humans as much if she actually like some humans. We never got the chance to actually look, because Jemima got all distant and passed out. So then we just took her straight to you." Victoria explained.

"So she was acting perfectly fine before?" Jennyanydots inquired.

"Perfectly fine." Victoria said.

"She'll be ok." Jennyanydots said.

The three cats stopped talking, and Jemima heard Jennyanydots talking quietly to Tantomile, whose brother was still recovering.

"Are you sure she's gonna be OK?" Etcetera asked.

Jennyanydots let a small chuckle out. "She'll be fine."

"You guys might not know this, but Jemima is conscious, and she was been listening to your conversation a couple minutes ago." Tantomile told the cats.

Jemima saw no reason to continue to fake unconsciousness, so she opened her eyes and said weakly, "Hey."

Victoria responded with a "Hey", and Etcetera ran up to Jemima and started to squeeze the life out of her.

"I was so worried!" She said. Her expression changed; "I have to tell Electra!" she was already outside when she said that.

"I'm fine." Jemima called after her.

"Why do you pass out?" Victoria asked.

"I don't know. I was just thinking about what happened with humans, and, next thing I know, I'm here." Jemima said hesitantly.

"It must have been a pretty bad memory." Tantomile said, joining the conversation.

Jemima grimaced, "It was. Does that have a lot to do with it?"

"Sometimes, if a memory is particularly bad or unpleasant, or if you experience a particularly strong emotion, the mind sends the body into a type of comatose. It's not the same, but you are pretty unresponsive during the whole thing. You aren't as conscious as you might be in a normal coma, but other than that, it's the same. It's sort of the cat's way of protecting the body from stress and things like that. Victoria, was she muttering anything?" Tantomile inquired.

At that moment, Coricopat stirred. A gasp went through the gathered cats. Jennyanydots went up to Coricopat.

"How are you feeling?" Jennyanydots asked.

"Meh. I don't think I've ever felt worse." Coricopat said, stretching.

"Halt. There still is another presence in your mind. Be careful." Tantomile said.

Coricopat uttered a sharp cry of pain and slowly laid back onto the bed.

"Are you okay!?" Tantomile rushed to her twin.

"I have some bad news, Tantomile." Coricopat said sadly.

"How?" Tantomile asked, obviously reading Coricopat's mind.

"I think our minds were connected from the confrontation. We were both on the mend until just right now." Coricopat answered.

"Was there any communication?" Tantomile inquired.

"None at all. We were both completely incapacitated; I only barely noticed his presence." Coricopat said.

Tantomile nodded.

"umm… I'm sure this is extremely important, but there's just one small detail that us normal cats don't know. Who exactly is this telepathic cat that we're talking about?" Victoria asked.

"You idiot, that's Coricopat!" Jemima scolded.

"No, the other cat." Victoria said.

"Ah… yeah…" Jemima eloquently said.

"I have do to a quick check up on Coricopat," Jennyanydots said, brushing Tantomile aside. "It won't be long at all."

Tantomile turned back to Victoria, "So how about my last question?"

"Wait, what was it again?" Victoria asked.

"Was Jemima muttering anything?" Tantomile reminded her.

Victoria nodded, "It sounded like she was giving someone an ultimatum. She kept on repeating 'Me or Them'. She kept on saying that the whole way over here."

Tantomile nodded, thinking. "Yes. Usually, ultimatums are strong memories; they induce the comatose state the easiest. Just give her a day, and she'll be perfectly fine. She needs rest. No stress."

"Don't worry, I'll be completely fine. I don't plan leaving here at all today." Jemima said.

At that moment, Etcetera burst in, "Munkustrap's back!" She said, breathing heavily.

Victoria looked back at Jemima. Surprise shone in her eyes. Jemima already left.

~ * ~ ~ * ~

Munkustrap left the Jellicle meeting place with his head held high. He went to see if he could find Quaxo or Rum Tum Tugger. He needed to talk with them about breaking in the new home. His strained his ears. Normally, he could easily find Tugger with Etcetera's screaming, but she wasn't screaming right now… Strange. Well, he was going to have a day full of looking for his brothers; there was no way he was leaving Jemima in the house with that… human there. The rest of the family was quite all right. He could probably end up liking the little girl, but that boy, there was no way. Jemima… The very name made him depressed. How could he leave her? How could he break a promise to her, to his daughter? Munkustrap closed his eyes and sighed. Maybe she had cooled off and understood his point. Maybe… He opened eyes and spotted the Maine coon easily.

"Tugger!" Munkustrap jogged to where Tugger was standing.

Tugger turned around and smiled. "Brother! It's been too long."

"I'll say. I have a favor to request of both you and Quaxo; If you help me find him I'll tell both of you." Munkustrap said.

"Certainly."

With two heads, two pairs of eyes searching for Quaxo, it wasn't hard to find him. Quaxo was laying down in his favorite pipe, reading one of his grimoires.

"Quaxo!" Munkustrap called.

Quaxo looked up, "Munkustrap! What can I do for you?"

"I have a request. Later today, can both of you come to the house and help me with breaking it in? The humans are going to have to accept multiple cats in the house soon enough."

Quaxo agreed immediately, but Tugger looked uneasy. "How long will we be there?" He asked.

"Just a couple of days," Munkustrap said. "I just want to make sure that the humans won't freak out with multiple cats there. That's all."

"Well, I guess that'll be fine." Tugger agreed, still not looking 100% Tuggerish.

"Ok…" Munkustrap said slowly. "What's got you messed up, Tugger?"

"Maturing changes a cat." Tugger said sourly.

"Ok Tugger. We both know that you will never mature so much that it would change you." Munkustrap said.

"Well, it has. You haven't been around for a couple of weeks, so you aren't completely in touch with us anymore." Tugger said.

"It's only been a couple of weeks. How much could've changed?" Munkustrap asked.

"More than you know, man." Tugger answered.

"Ok. What has changed with you?" Munkustrap started.

"Other than the fact that I'm no longer single, permamently, and am currently becoming a father, not much actually." Tugger said.

"Wow. I wasn't expecting that. Ok. Your point is proven. I concede." Munkustrap said.

Tugger sighed. "I never expected to ever settle down."

"You can't be youthful forever, Tugger." Munkustrap said.

"Yeah. Hey, maybe this little shindig will help me with my youthful vigor. Heh. Let's go!" Tugger said, heading towards the exit.

Munkustrap stopped Tugger, "Tommorrow, Tugger."

"Heh. Yeah. I…" Tugger stopped suddenly.

"What is…" Munkustrap started, turning to see what Tugger saw.

Across from Munkustrap, on the other side of the street, stood Jemima.


End file.
